BYU Cougars vs. Wyoming Cowboys NCAA Basketball Betting

Saturday, March 05, 2011 12:00 AM ET

The BYU Cougars
will be back at it on Saturday afternoon as they wrap up the regular season and
hope to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West Conference Tournament when
they take on the Wyoming Cowboys.

Season of Woe for Wyoming

There was a point
about three months ago in which the Wyoming Cowboys really thought they had a
chance of going to a postseason tournament. Sure, the NCAA Tournament was
always out of the question, but a 7-5 mark out of conference at least gave the
hope that the NIT or the CBI would be calling.

Then the MWC
season happened... Wyoming has only gone 3-12 thus far in conference play, and
it is sure to have a short stay in the conference tournament next week. The
team has also yet to win a road game on the campaign, going 0-10, including
posting just a 2-7 ATS mark.

The good news is
that the Cowboys did finish up 9-3-1 ATS at home on the season, including
covering these Cougs back on February 2. The team has been relatively hot since
that point from the standpoint of the NCAA basketball bettors, as it is 5-2-1
ATS since the start of February.

Loss of Davies is a Big Problem for BYU

We have to give
the BYU Cougars some credit for sticking to their laurels and booting Brandon
Davies off of the team after he violated the school's honor code.
Unfortunately, he was one of the top scorers on this team, and the squad really
does look lost without him out there.

Perhaps it was
just this New Mexico team that really snuck up on BYU this year. The Lobos
handed the Cougs two of their three losses on the season, including the brutal
82-64 loss at the Marriott Center earlier this week in the first game without
Davies.

Of course, there's
Jimmer Fredette as well, only one of the best pure scorers in the nation.
However, as he proved when he scored 33 against the Lobos, he really can't do
it all. Fredette is averaging 27.5 PPG, but he is really going to have to step
it up even another notch to give this team any hope of winning the Mountain
West and capturing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With another unexpected
loss, this squad could drop as low as maybe even a No. 4.

Cowboys Should Keep ATS Streak Intact

There hasn't been
much to be proud of this year in Laramie, while there has been plenty to gloat
about in Provo. We would love to be calling for the outright upset, but that
would be insane. However, to think that the Cowboys can keep this one within
double digits or so is a legitimate possibility.

As we mentioned
earlier, Wyoming did beat the NCAA basketball odds earlier this year in a 69-62
loss to the Cougars. It also covered its last trip here to Provo, an 81-66 loss
last season at the Marriott Center as 23 point underdogs.

The college
basketball betting spread won't quite be that high on Saturday, but it'll be up
there far enough for the Cowboys to stick in front of the number against a
reeling bunch of Cougars.